I’ve been thinking about getting an RO system to use for a freshwater fish tank and my herps to guarantee good water quality. I’ve heard that saltyshrimp is good to use for fish tanks I was wondering if it would also be fine for reptile/amphibian drinking & soaking water
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I was talking about something similar with one of my herp vets recently. I had been using spring water for my herps, and I’ve been struggling to keep my leos hydrated enough in this heat wave, and all the evaporation is leaving deposits all over their water bowls. Id heard previously, anecdotally, that distilled water shouldn’t be used with herps, as it ‘can cause diarrhea.’
Well, we discussed the use of distilled water in herps, and there are plenty of gecko (and other) species that drink rainfall/dew, which is similar to distilled water. He didn’t think it was a terrible idea for me to try distilled water with my leos, in an effort to increase their hydration and support kidney function, so I’m going to give it a try soon.
Reverse osmosis just removes larger particles, while the minerals remain, right? So I would imagine it would be ok to use for herps.
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I think most any RO system is going to achieve the same affect. I’ve only minorly looked into them previously though. The only thing with either distilled or RO water is that it pretty much removes all mineral content, which usually you want those minerals because they are good for fish and reptiles. You definitely get rid of any contaminants, but also everything else with it. Unless you had a specific reason where it is desirable to have mineral-less water for fish, it would probably be better to just get water conditioner for fish/reptiles.
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Don’t use RO for reptiles, as said gets rid of everything, in the long run it’s actually poor for them. We only used RO for our marine tank as obviously needed and a lot better.
Never used for our reptiles or our amphibians.
RO removes all minerals from the water actually. I was wondering if anyone knew if the saltyshrimp re-mineralizer would be okay to use for herps or if it should just be a fish tank only thing. The only animal I’ve ever heard of using distilled/RO for is Malaysian cat geckos because they’re prone to kidney stones. I wouldn’t use un-remineralized water because it will actually remove minerals from the body
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Since I supplement my guys properly, I’m not concerned about that aspect, and neither is their veterinarian. My concern is potentially too great a mineral concentration causing bladder stones and other renal system problems over many years in many of my elderly geckos, as well as making it harder to keep them hydrated because of the greater concentration of solute (I think that’s the right word). While I can see someone being concerned for un-supplemented reptiles, or for amphibians (where I could see lack of solute being life-threatening, especially if kidney function isn’t optimal), I am comfortable giving it a try in my animals.
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It removes most of the minerals but not the contaminants…the actual bad stuff.
Yeah that’s ultimately a half-truth at best and really depends on whether or not your water system uses chloramines. A 3 or 4 stage system won’t remove chloramines but will remove everything else. I’ve heard 5 stages can remove chloramines however.
https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/home-water-treatment/household_water_treatment.html
Here’s what the CDC says about RO systems atleast.
That is also irrelevant to my question about whether or not the saltyshrimp remineralizer (for freshwater tanks) would be acceptable for use with reptiles and amphibians. I assume it is but I’d like to double check.